The Family: A Team Effort

FAITH & FAMILY

The Family: A Team Effort

Today we often compare families to a team. What does the Bible say about that?

When you think about it, generally, a family is composed of a father, mother, children; everybody has a role. It is a team. In fact, it should work and function as a team. It would be absolutely beneficial to the family to work this way because it would allow them to be happy and prosperous. So what is one of the characteristics of a happy and prosperous family? In the book of Psalms 128:1-4, it says the following:

Happy are those who obey the Lord, who live by his commands. Your work will provide for your needs; you will be happy and prosperous. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your home, and your children will be like young olive trees around your table. A man who obeys the Lord will surely be blessed like this.

Isn’t that a nice picture of a happy and prosperous family? Everybody wants to belong to a family like that, right? This is why every member of the family should encourage each other to obey the commandments of God. That should be the family’s objective. If the family is to work together as a team, they need to work together all the time. Nowadays, it’s very seldom you see a family eat together. And that’s sad because we need to do things together. If we don’t do things together, how can we say we’re a family that’s a team?

The most effective and successful teams were those where everyone worked together and everyone knew their respective roles.

Now, let’s take a basketball team for example. You have a player that’s good at rebounds but can’t shoot. Or someone who can shoot but can’t pass. You need all those players, though, right? This is why a family needs to be a team and work together because every single member of the family has their own strengths and weaknesses. If you work together as a team, guess what? Your strengths will help with another’s weaknesses.

So for a family, the team leaders are the parents, right?

You need to have leaders. You can’t have a team without a leader. But you can’t have a leader who doesn’t know what the goals of the team are. Knowing our goal is vital. Otherwise, where would the team be led to? Our families are our most important team and our goal as a family is heaven. That must be our number one goal. And so, everything that we do has to somehow get us to heaven. And that’s a challenge. because we’re leading our family to a place we’ve never been to. So what do we need so that we can effectively lead our family to the Kingdom of Heaven? In the book of Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and He will show you the right way.

As we go through life, somewhere along the way, we become wiser and we gain more knowledge. But there’s a danger because sometimes we become so independent we don’t rely on God anymore. We begin to rely on our own wisdom, on our own knowledge. The Bible says never let yourself think that you are wiser than you are. Instead, remember God in everything that you do. Why? Because no matter how smart we get, there will always be something we don’t know. But God knows everything. God can see our journey. God knows what we’re going to face.

And so a true leader needs to be prayerful. You need to always ask for the guidance of God. And if we always remember God, what will He do for us? The Bible says, “He will show you the right way.” And so a good leader has to be a good…follower! And whom do we need to follow? God. We’ve never been to heaven, but God is there. And so God wants to show us the right way to get to heaven. We need to ask for His guidance and His help, so that we can take every single member of our family to the Kingdom of Heaven with us.

There’s no doubt that we all want our children to grow into amazing adults with the grace of God in their hearts. But their victories start with us. With a little bit of practice coupled with fervent prayer, you’ll see the results of Christian parenting through their careful actions, their heartfelt words, and the honorable choices they make.